Mikhail Pletnev - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15 and Hamlet Op. 32 (2015) [SACD]
BAND/ARTIST: Mikhail Pletnev
- Title: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15 and Hamlet Op. 32
- Year Of Release: 2015
- Label: PENTATONE classics
- Genre: Classical
- Quality: DSD64 image (*.iso) / 2.0, 5.0 (2,8 MHz/1 Bit)
- Total Time: 01:04:42
- Total Size: 3.06 GB
- WebSite: Album Preview
Tracklist:
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15:
01. I. Allegretto (8:15)
02. II. Adagio (16:39)
03. III. Allegretto (4:20)
04. IV. Adagio-Allegretto (17:31)
Dmitri Shostakovich: Hamlet Op. 32:
05. Introduction and Night Watch (2:23)
06. Dinner Music (1:35)
07. Dance Music (2:08)
08. The Hunt (1:35)
09. Monologue of Claudius (1:42)
10. Musical Pantomime (1:12)
11. Lullaby (1:10)
12. Gigue (Addition, composed in 1954) (1:06)
13. Requiem (1:56)
14. Signals of Fortinbras (0:44)
15. March of Fortinbras (1:53)
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15:
01. I. Allegretto (8:15)
02. II. Adagio (16:39)
03. III. Allegretto (4:20)
04. IV. Adagio-Allegretto (17:31)
Dmitri Shostakovich: Hamlet Op. 32:
05. Introduction and Night Watch (2:23)
06. Dinner Music (1:35)
07. Dance Music (2:08)
08. The Hunt (1:35)
09. Monologue of Claudius (1:42)
10. Musical Pantomime (1:12)
11. Lullaby (1:10)
12. Gigue (Addition, composed in 1954) (1:06)
13. Requiem (1:56)
14. Signals of Fortinbras (0:44)
15. March of Fortinbras (1:53)
PentaTone’s continuing cycle of the Shostakovich symphonies, each played by the Russian National Orchestra under various conductors, now reaches Shostakovich’s final, and in many ways darkest symphony, No. 15. This time Mikhail Pletnev, always an interesting conductor, is on the podium and his view of the symphony emerges as one of the bleakest on record as well as one of supreme sensitivity. The 15th Symphony is an enigmatic and ambiguous work, and in the concert hall it is always interesting to observe how the knowing smiles of the audience, as Shostakovich quotes the ‘William Tell Overture’, quickly give way to looks of grim-faced concentration as the symphony develops.
In the opening Allegretto (8.14), Pletnev avoids overplaying the Rossini quotes and concentrates more on the sinister and macabre grotesquery that emerges during the course of this movement. The Adagio (16.40) that follows is very slow and controlled. Pletnev captures the sense of loneliness and isolation conveyed by the spare lines of the music as well as the anger unleashed in the central funeral march. The eloquent cello playing of Alexander Gotgelf and the firm solo trombone complement the stasis of the conductor’s conception, though his occasional vocalisations were a minor distraction. The third movement, a sprightly Allegretto (4.19), brings little respite to the oppressive gloom of the music, but highlights the fine playing of the woodwind section of the Russian National Orchestra, as well as that of their Concert master Alexander Bruni.
Pletnev’s doom laden opening to the finale (17.29), with its Wagner quotations, gives way to a cool and unhurried statement of the main theme. The build-up to the anguished climax of the movement, via a passacaglia based on the banal march theme of the ‘Leningrad Symphony’, is searingly intense. Finally, Pletnev’s thoughtful handling of the gradual disintegration of the music, eventually disturbed by the chilling clockwork percussion passage that brings the symphony to its end, lingers long in the mind.
Mikhail Pletnev has chosen to couple the Symphony with a most interesting fill-up; his own selection from the incidental music that Shostakovich wrote for a production of Hamlet by Nikolai Akimov in 1932. According to Shostakovich this outrageous production was possibly the most scandalous in the history of Shakespeare. Hamlet himself was a fat drunk, and Ophelia was a nymphomaniac whose death by drowning was a consequence of a drunken party at court, whilst her brother Laertes was reduced to a comic caricature. At one point, Hamlet parodied his own simulated madness by appearing in a nightgown clutching an outsize carrot and with a saucepan on his head, whilst his entry following Polonius’s scene with Reynaldo was originally staged as a form of wildly exaggerated madness with Hamlet leading a pig on a lead. Needless to say the Communist Party banned the production, but Shostakovich's witty score was praised. As you might expect, Shostakovich’s music for this production is written in his ironic, parodistic and popular vein; a far cry from the dramatic and serious Hamlet film score that he wrote in 1964 for Grigori Kozintsev’s film of Shakespeare’s play.
The music is full of beguiling melodies, lively dances and epigrammatic allusions all colourfully orchestrated in the composer’s usual winning fashion. None of the eleven movements lasts much longer than two minutes, but Pletnev and the orchestra play each with flare and humour making this selection an up-beat musical contrast with the symphony.
The recording quality of this SACD is absolutely superb. Working in PentaTone’s familiar recording venue of DZZ Studio 5, Moscow, the Polyhymnia engineers have achieved a wide-ranging sound in which every detail of Shostakovich’s orchestration is strikingly clear. Strings have a realistic bite and the characterful timbre of the RNO woodwind and brass is vividly captured throughout, while Shostakovich’s important percussion parts have an impressive clarity and impact in both works.
Pletnev’s performances make another valuable addition to this splendid ongoing Shostakovich cycle.
In the opening Allegretto (8.14), Pletnev avoids overplaying the Rossini quotes and concentrates more on the sinister and macabre grotesquery that emerges during the course of this movement. The Adagio (16.40) that follows is very slow and controlled. Pletnev captures the sense of loneliness and isolation conveyed by the spare lines of the music as well as the anger unleashed in the central funeral march. The eloquent cello playing of Alexander Gotgelf and the firm solo trombone complement the stasis of the conductor’s conception, though his occasional vocalisations were a minor distraction. The third movement, a sprightly Allegretto (4.19), brings little respite to the oppressive gloom of the music, but highlights the fine playing of the woodwind section of the Russian National Orchestra, as well as that of their Concert master Alexander Bruni.
Pletnev’s doom laden opening to the finale (17.29), with its Wagner quotations, gives way to a cool and unhurried statement of the main theme. The build-up to the anguished climax of the movement, via a passacaglia based on the banal march theme of the ‘Leningrad Symphony’, is searingly intense. Finally, Pletnev’s thoughtful handling of the gradual disintegration of the music, eventually disturbed by the chilling clockwork percussion passage that brings the symphony to its end, lingers long in the mind.
Mikhail Pletnev has chosen to couple the Symphony with a most interesting fill-up; his own selection from the incidental music that Shostakovich wrote for a production of Hamlet by Nikolai Akimov in 1932. According to Shostakovich this outrageous production was possibly the most scandalous in the history of Shakespeare. Hamlet himself was a fat drunk, and Ophelia was a nymphomaniac whose death by drowning was a consequence of a drunken party at court, whilst her brother Laertes was reduced to a comic caricature. At one point, Hamlet parodied his own simulated madness by appearing in a nightgown clutching an outsize carrot and with a saucepan on his head, whilst his entry following Polonius’s scene with Reynaldo was originally staged as a form of wildly exaggerated madness with Hamlet leading a pig on a lead. Needless to say the Communist Party banned the production, but Shostakovich's witty score was praised. As you might expect, Shostakovich’s music for this production is written in his ironic, parodistic and popular vein; a far cry from the dramatic and serious Hamlet film score that he wrote in 1964 for Grigori Kozintsev’s film of Shakespeare’s play.
The music is full of beguiling melodies, lively dances and epigrammatic allusions all colourfully orchestrated in the composer’s usual winning fashion. None of the eleven movements lasts much longer than two minutes, but Pletnev and the orchestra play each with flare and humour making this selection an up-beat musical contrast with the symphony.
The recording quality of this SACD is absolutely superb. Working in PentaTone’s familiar recording venue of DZZ Studio 5, Moscow, the Polyhymnia engineers have achieved a wide-ranging sound in which every detail of Shostakovich’s orchestration is strikingly clear. Strings have a realistic bite and the characterful timbre of the RNO woodwind and brass is vividly captured throughout, while Shostakovich’s important percussion parts have an impressive clarity and impact in both works.
Pletnev’s performances make another valuable addition to this splendid ongoing Shostakovich cycle.
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Mikhail Pletnev - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15 and Hamlet Op. 32 (2015) [SACD]
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Mikhail Pletnev - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15 and Hamlet Op. 32 (2015) [SACD]
My blog
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